I'm new to bodybuilding (22 yrs old), two weeks ago while doing dumbbell rows on a flat bench I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulders and I stopped immediately and did not do any weight lifting that irritates my shoulder for some time.

The pain was not at the shoulder but near the front side into my collar bone (where the shoulder joins the collar bone) and when I sleep on that side it extends towards my side upto my biceps.

Then one week later when the pain subsided I went and tried to do cable flyes for chest and I felt like something was loose in my shoulder joint but did not have much pain it was just like a slip in the joint when I did the exercise but the next day it started to pain again inside my collar bone.

Day before yesterday I went to a doctor and he pressed on my shoulder and analyzed my situation and since I did not have any pain when he did that he told me it was not a tear and told me I could do those exercise that does not irritate my shoulder.

So Yesterday i felt completely normal I did some pushups and the pain was not there so I felt confident and happy so I tried to do flat barbell bench-press I started out with very low weight 15lbs then 25 lbs and when I tried to increase the weight I felt the joint was getting loose and it was kind of some muscle in my shoulder joint is loose but it did not pain that much when I did the exercise It was just like something was moving around in my shoulder.

But today I can feel some pain in the shoulder. But this pain gradually goes away after 3 or 4 day and I will be able to do all the range of motion with my shoulder but it comes back once I do some shoulder or chest exc. I really want to build some mass but this nagging shoulder pain is so frustrating and holding me from my goals.

Why does this happen please give me some advise, am I not giving the shoulder enough time to heal. I can also hear some popping sound in the shoulder when I lift my hand over the head but no pain.

Please give me some advice.I'm new to T-Nation so please forgive me if I'm not supposed to post my question here.,.. -Thanks

First thing's first: Use the search function. Because this is your first post, hopefully you'll be spared some of the flaming.

Avoiding pressing movements and some back movements (ie pullups).

Start doing broomstick streches and see if you can work on shoulder mobility. Strengthing muscles around your shoulder should help. External rotations, facepulls, cuban presses, etc are all good lifts that should be regularly incorporated.

Look up Eric Cressey in either the search function or in the Author listing. He has several articles on shoulder health (so does Bill Hartman, I believe)

Don't rush into lifting (pushing movements) too soon. You probably should continue with the pushups if they aren't aggrevating you.

This may be a blessing in disguise. Now you can focus on legs.

Since you're new, don't be afraid to go to the Beginners forum. There are many helpful stickies and people.

And lastly, it is very hard to diagnose over the web. Take all this advice with a grain of salt as me/we may be completely wrong. If it continues to really bother you, see if you can get a second opinion or an MRI.

thank you guys..I used search and found a lot of info about shoulder injury esp I found a article from Tony Gentilcore in which he tells some exc to work around your shoulder pain. But still i think I will do these exc once my pain goes away. I do not want to mess up with the shoulder anymore so for now I have decided to do just cardio abs and legs and also some rotator cuff exc.

I'm doing rehab and takin anti inflammatory and applying ice/heat for my shoulder, but just one question if I move my arm in some way (when lifting my hand lying down on my side) the pain travels to the side of my upper arm till my biceps can this be biceps tendonitis so this means I have both supraspinatus and biceps tendonitis or is this normal in any impingement?? please help me answer this I searched a lot of forums but I could not find the answer to this one.

I second the bursitis diagnosis. Nowhere nearly as bad as a torn rotator cuff, which is what I have. My wife had bursitis and went to PT and was given exercises to do at home. It got better quickly and she's fine now, still working out too.

For my problem, I avoid aggravating it, use ice when I have to and pop an Aleve now and then. Surgery is in my future.

thanks guys I really appreciate your help I will work on my problem now that I have figured out what it is.

@ Professor X no the pain is not minor I m not able to do bench press I can feel like something is slipping in my shoulder joint when I do the movement but i get this severe sharp pain inside the shoulder the next day even when I do normal activities like putting my shirt on ..

amittiz wrote:thanks guys I really appreciate your help I will work on my problem now that I have figured out what it is.

@ Professor X no the pain is not minor I m not able to do bench press I can feel like something is slipping in my shoulder joint when I do the movement but i get this severe sharp pain inside the shoulder the next day even when I do normal activities like putting my shirt on ..

@ amittiz, I have experienced similar and simply used less weight or, if very severe, let it rest for a week. Then again, maybe I had a firmer grasp on physiology that kept me from hurting myself like this until I was actually moving serious weight.

I have been ON and OFF my training for some time now.. it seemed to get better and if i go workout I get the pain right back at my shoulder. I was worried and did a little more research and I came across AC joint separation and when I looked at my shoulders there it was my left shoulder had a little bump when compared to my right shoulder.

I was shocked and went to the doctor, and took an X-ray to see how bad it is. Will be going back to get my results on Monday.

How severe it is ( I can not see the bump visually but i can feel the Clavicle bone coming up in my left shoulder i think it is type 1 or 2 ). Was just wondering if any of you guys have had the same problem..

Professor X wrote:amittiz wrote:thanks guys I really appreciate your help I will work on my problem now that I have figured out what it is.

@ Professor X no the pain is not minor I m not able to do bench press I can feel like something is slipping in my shoulder joint when I do the movement but i get this severe sharp pain inside the shoulder the next day even when I do normal activities like putting my shirt on ..

@ amittiz, I have experienced similar and simply used less weight or, if very severe, let it rest for a week. Then again, maybe I had a firmer grasp on physiology that kept me from hurting myself like this until I was actually moving serious weight.